Is it for sure Hochevar will go back to school if he doesn't get signed? If he wasn't going back, then we would have more time.

I wouldn't be shocked if nothing got done.

Another Ex-Dodger attempting to cement his status as a first-ballot Hall of Shame inductee... you guessed it... Todd Hundley.

http://tinyurl.com/dhrg9

Oh, and how has the appearance of the site changed? Looks the same in Safari.

Gurnick: "And, according to just about everyone who's ever seen him play, from reporters to scouts to ballplayers, catching prospects don't come any better than Navarro." [No sources cited for this assertion.]

Henson: "Even in the Dodger farm system, another catcher is held in higher esteem by most scouts. Russell Martin, who is batting .315 with a .433 on-base percentage at double-A Jacksonville, has more athleticism, arm strength and power than Navarro.

'Martin would take the job right now if the Dodgers called him up,' said a scout from another organization who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 'Navarro can be a solid major leaguer, but Martin is a franchise catcher. He'll be an all-star.'"

-------------------------------------

So, we've offered Hochevar the highest bonus in franchise history and he still wants twice as much? I say we call the bluff. Boras caved completely with little brothers Drew and Weaver, and will do so again if he's smart. Players returning for their senior year of college almost always get a lesser bonus by doing so. Literally the only reason to return to school is to spite the team that drafted you.

-------------------------------------

Re Carlos Perez, some folks at BTF were wondering whether his MLB pension can be garnished if he continues to hide out in the Dominican. It's a good question...

Or, complete that degree in American Studies and embark upon an unlucrative writing career...

``You can't cost your team games trying to learn a job,'' Schilling said. ``You can't do that. There's no excuse for what happened.''

unless of course you make one for yourself

''You can't cost your team games while learning to do the job," said Schilling, who has been closing for a month now. ''There's no excuse for that. This is a results-oriented business. Tonight was a horrible night for me."

I just don't think that was him trying to excuse himself out of it.

It was fairly easy for us to get the necessary six because my father owned a store and would just save the caps from people who wanted their Pepsi bottles opened. When I visited my dad's store, I got very angry at people who bought Cokes instead of Pepsi when I needed my bottle cap liners!

``He's not the Curt Schilling that finished last season,'' teammate Johnny Damon said. ``He needs some work, he knows it. He'll find it. Hopefully, he'll get another opportunity (Tuesday) and he'll close it out for us.''

(My seventh-grade grammar teacher would probably murder me for that last sentence, BTW.)

That was you?!?

When I decided to switch to diet, I started drinking diet pepsi cause that's all we have in the machine at work.

I say let Hochevar go if he won't come down in price. Part of my reaction is the product of the T.O. Rosenhause debacle. (Which as an aside I don't understand why ESPN and everyone else treat as a national debate topic:
Should we be in Iraq?
Should Israel be giving back Gaza?
Why did the Greek Airliner lose cabin pressure? and
What should the world do about the T.O. Eagle dispute?)
Who cares about T.O.
The guy signed an extension last year. Honor the contract. I would like to see Philly pay and release him and the other owners agree to not pick him up. I have no problem with his on field antics but he is hurting his team and his agent is giving him bad advice. You signed a contract T.O. be a man, honor it.

Luke, Boras is not your father, ignore him

I'm done on this topic, sorry for the rant.

Though not Dodger related (or baseball for that matter), with NFL contracts not being guaranteed (except for the signing bonuses) I can understand the players frustration.

That said, TO is acting a fool right now.

Later on, as my sophistication(?) grew, I chose Wink or Squirt.

But, have to say it, now I really really love Arizona Green Tea...

When you lay down with dogs. . .

55. Now that is disgusting.

I don't know if I could stomach those along with the Penny and Lowe-isms.

Back to baseball, does anyone know what "the personal reason" was that Odalis left the team.

Those would have been worth it.

"Bucher's favorite was a confession he wrote, trusting that the North Koreans would find in their English-language dictionaries that an obscure noun he was using as a verb meant nothing more than a song of praise--and that Americans back home would read the word phonetically: "We not only want to paean the North Korean government," Bucher wrote in blissful rhapsody, "but to paean the North Korean people as well."

The Coke soldiers were handing out free samples of that stuff at CSULB a month ago.

Tasted like something that would clean my kitchen floor very well.

Diet Coke tastes like "Diet Coke"

now thats crazy.

Was your dad's store in Granada Hills? I grew up there and bought many soft drinks from small stores when I was growing up. I am now worried that I offended you with my drink selection and should be avoiding you for the rest of my life.

What, you think foam coming out of your nose is funny?

Funnier than foam coming out of a pitbull's mouth.

If it were in Granada Hills, we likely wouldn't have been robbed quite as often.

The store was demolished in the early 1990s after a truck hit it. A well-insured truck I may add.

Did it ever rain bullfrogs at your father's store?

Did you grow up in Granada Hills? My happiest days were spent on the fields of Granada Hills American Little League.

Did you grow up in Granada Hills? My happiest days were spent on the fields of Granada Hills American Little League.

I think that phenomena was limited to Magnolia Blvd.

8283
I was raised in Granada Hills, but did not play Little League baseball. My happiest days were spent at Alemany High playing CYO basketball for my elementary school. Actually, I rarely played. The coach had me keep stats. It was best for all parties involved.

But really it's just Buster Olney musing about how he thinks Bonds should become a DH.

Wow, what a revelation. Next he's going to say the same thing about Mike Piazza.

thanks to google and espn.com

A player is eligible for the offseason Rule 5 draft if he is not on the 40-man Major League Roster if he was 18 or younger when he first signed a pro contract and this is the fourth Rule 5 draft since he signed or if he was 19 or older when he first signed a pro contract and this is the third Rule 5 draft since he signed.
A player drafted in the Rule 5 draft must remain in the majors, be it on the 25-man roster or the disabled list, for all of the following season, or the club that drafted him must return him to his original club. Since a player to is returned must first be place on waivers, a third club can claim the player. The claiming club would then be responsible to the same rules placed upon the team that drafted him in the Rule 5 draft.

According to http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewDraftFaq.do

Both Choi and Kent are listed as missing Sunday's game with "rest" and their status is "questionable"

That helps a lot too.

is it just because he has an inflated ego? if so, we don't need another Kevin Brown on our team, expecially an immature Kevin Brown...

If he were to go to an AL team, he might hit until he's 50.

And, if the Angels and Moreno want to really stick it to the Dodgers, what better person to go get than Bonds?

That puts seats in the seats.

I wouldn't call it sticking it to the Dodgers if the Angels remove the best hitter ever from LA's #1 division rival.

I've learned to not doubt Barry Bonds.

Howard, it's not necessarily about the player's ego... trying to bargain for a major league contract is something that almost all draftees of Hochevar's stature do. Almost all of them fail in that effort, as I hope he does.

http://tinyurl.com/9exgb

One could argue that Boras is not acting in his clients' best interest by asking for major league contracts. It's the classic situation of choosing the short-end risky payoff over the chances of having a better long-term career.

One site I just checked had the author listed as Woody Guthrie. I don't think so.

But the site also listed my favorite Pink Floyd title, `A Small Species of Furry Animals Gathered in a Cave Groovin' on a Pict'. To those who have never heard it, I recommend it. Strange stuff. Think the Chipmunks and their entire brood whoopin' it up on acid.

Years ago, my cousins and I parked next to the walk in campsite at Yosemite called Yellow Pine, where all the dopers hung out. Put the (home) stereo speakers on top of the car, played the song at about 140 db., and...you never heard such dead silence as we did from the campers after the song had played.

Cheap fun :)

Jim,
I think it's time you gave back Gram Parson's body too.

Sorry to re-hijack this thread and head back to its original topic, but was anybody else bothered by Henson's lead in today's piece on Navarro? "...dee owner of "dee territory..." or something like that.

Way, way below Henson's (but not the Times') standards. I typically enjoy Henson's work.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/askbarule5.html

Izturis
Robles
Bradley
Kent
Valentin
Werth
Choi
Navarro
Lowe

Ledee instead of Valentin would be nice, but no Phillips is always a plus.

August 16, 1969

The Prodigal Shortstop, Maury Wills, hit his first career grand slam, as the Dodgers routed the expansion Montreal Expos, 9-3, before a crowd of 24,949 at Parc Jarry. The Dodgers were now 64-53 and just 1 ½ games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the brand new National League West Division.

Traded to Pittsburgh after the 1966 season after refusing to join the Dodgers on a trip to Japan, Wills was picked by the Expos in the expansion draft. On June 11, the Dodgers traded Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich to Montreal to reacquire Wills along with outfielder Manny Mota. Wills was booed every time he came to bat in Montreal, whose fans were quick to develop grudges.

The Dodgers were facing their old nemesis, Larry Jaster, in the game. Jaster threw five shutouts against the Dodgers for the Cardinals in 1966. But on this day, Jaster didn't have much. With one out in the first, Mota tripled to center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Willie Davis. Andy Kosco doubled to center and Wes Parker followed with a walk. Third baseman (in title only) Bill Sudakis then hit his 11th home run of the season to make it 4-0 Dodgers. Sudakis extended his hitting streak to 16 games. (It would reach 18.)

Dodgers starter Claude Osteen started to give the lead back in the second. He gave up a double to Gary Sutherland and an RBI single to Bobby Wine. And in the third, the Expos rallied for two more runs when Bob Bailey walked and scored on a double by Coco Laboy. Rusty Staub singled home Laboy.

But the Dodgers broke the game open in the fifth. Parker singled to lead off and stole second. Sudakis struck out and Ted Sizemore flied out. Jeff Torborg drew an intentional walk, but Jaster followed up with an unintentional walk to Osteen to load the bases. Then Wills took a Jaster offering over the fence in left to make it 8-3 Dodgers and temporarily silence the booing. Wills hit just 20 home runs in his 14-year major league career.

The Dodgers added their final run in the 8th on an RBI single by Parker. Osteen went the distance despite giving up 11 hits to pick up his 16th win.

After a couple of dismal seasons, 1969 was a pleasant surprise for Dodger fans. But it wasn't satisfying as the team finished 85-77 and 8 games behind the first place Braves and in fourth place. The NL West had a pretty wild pennant race with five of the six teams in the division in contention through much of September. Only the expansion Padres finished below .500.

The Dodgers were an unlikely contender in 1969. They didn't have much power, hitting just 97 home runs with Kosco leading with 19. Sizemore was an unlikely, and mostly forgotten, Rookie of the Year, batting .271. Sizemore would be traded to St. Louis for Richie Allen in 1971.
Sudakis was a much-heralded prospect, but he never did much for the Dodgers. He batted just .234 in 1969 with 14 home runs. The Dodgers also tried him at catcher in 1971, but he did not seem to be adept anywhere on the field.

Wills batted .297 in his return for the Dodgers, but his best years were behind him. However, the player who came with him, Mota, was quite a find. He would go on to be one of baseball's greatest pinch hitters and even put together some good years when he was still fast enough to play in the field.

The Dodgers had a pair of 20-game winners. Osteen was 20-15 with a 2.66 ERA and Bill Singer went 20-12 with a 2.34 ERA. Don Sutton was 17-18 with a 3.47 ERA.

But after those three, the Dodger pitchers were suspect. Don Drysdale's arm gave out after 12 games and he had to retire. Alan Foster started 15 games and was 3-9. Jim Bunning was picked up from Pittsburgh in a waiver deal on August 15 and went 3-1.

Jim Brewer led the team with 20 saves in the first year the statistic was officially kept. However, it was Singer who recorded the first official save in baseball history. On Opening Day in Cincinnati, Singer pitched the last 3 innings in relief of Drysdale as the Dodgers beat the Reds 3-2.

The Dodgers season was pretty much ruined with an early September trip to San Diego. The Dodgers came in to San Diego on September 3, one game behind first place San Francisco (pretty much everybody was in first place that year). Four days later, the Dodgers had dropped four games to the last place Padres and they had dropped to fourth place. And then a seven-game losing streak from September 19 through September 26 made the Dodgers hopes of a return to the postseason disappear. The Dodgers went 11-19 in September, including a 2-13 road record.

Thanks to the Los Angeles Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

Maybe Tracy applies the "one-of-Robles-Izturis" logic to Perez and Choi. Only one of the 2 are allowed to play at any given time. Though preferably neither.

Has Cruz fallen harder and faster than Choi did to the bottom of the bench?

Not trying to pick on anyone, but this is a good example of the knee-jerk anti-Tracy sentiment around here. If DePo or one of the players made that statement, nobody would give it a second thought. The statement makes some sense, actually. But since it's Tracy who said it, the statement is continually mocked and held up for ridicule.

Phillips 0-8 vs. Smoltz
Choi 2-3 vs. Smoltz

If you look at any of the year's the Dodgers have won a pennant or division, you can always find one big winning streak.

Valentin is 13 for 89 against RHP and 3 for 32 in August. I guess the one good game 2 for 5 against Smoltz is good enough sample for Tracy.

You ask yourself, "can the Dodgers win this thing by making up one game a week?" Yes, they can.

Or rather - You start to look at the Dodgers. 11 games under .500, the record. 5 games back, the defecit. You make up one game a week, and that pitch is taken for a strike. The count now 2-1.

SS Furcal
2B Giles
3B Jones
CF Jones
1B Laroche
RF Francouer
LF Langerhans
C McCann
P Smoltz

So I read ddger's "rambling on" comment as at least half in the spirit of "no news here - just another sports interview."

The high this year is 8. Last year's high was also 8.

When I saw that the Braves had Mondesi and Jordan starting on Opening Day, I said that's it, the reign of terror is over. I shall never right off the Braves again. Of course, plan b, with Langerhans and Francouer, was much better than plan a, but is that something the Braves should have known?

The Marlins are starting two former Dodgers in Lo Duca and Encarnacion. The Padres have just one in the lineup today in Eric Young.

Eric Young is batting THIRD for the Padres today.

seriously though, i wouldnt throw a pitch in the strike zone to francouer until he shows he can take a walk.

Darn it. I tried this and he said, hey lets go out to the car.

And I thought there wouldnt even be any one there to call my bluff.

I really hope Choi makes the most out of this opportunity...

And I do think there's a weird Tracy math regarding AP and Choi, "If AP, then Choi {null} " ... and "If Choi then AP {null} + Robles + Izturis - Phillips ="... We'll see.

argh.

I want to learn to talk like that..

Tom Petty the concert. The wife and another couple as the guest. Free falling. Out into nothing.

Also, planning ahead, we only need to gain one game on the 2nd placed NL West team from April thru September, and we should make the playoffs.

And once the playoffs begin, anything can happen.

This has to stop Lowe. The outs are GBs, the hits...

And Izzy drives a double to the gap. The balls are carrying if Izzy can do that

olney.

I would expect that means Martin is a close 2nd, or that he has just come on so recently that he is just now being noticed.

Go Miltie.

If Choi got a hit, Bradley has no excuse.

mcCann will hit for more power than martin but martin is superior in every other aspect.

because McCann will hit for more power, McCann is rated #1, and martin #2 in catching prospects in baseball.

Is there a bigger tease, especially 2 outs and a runner on 1st?

Yes, one game out of every 15 he'll do just that.

He's ready enough to be better than those two ex-Dodgers bums.

Yeah

Side topic, if I might, anyone care to defend the Giants NOT trading Jason Schmidt last month? Poor season for the team. Skills in decline, but still in demand. Nice hot streak just before the deadline to drive up his value. Really the only chance S.F. had, short of trading Bonds, to get some young talent into their system.

He's getting knocked around pretty good by Cincy to night - "matching" Eric Milton.

Why does this seem like the Reds came out ahead in this?

It's similar to how the Dodgers suffer when Repko is out of the lineup. He can't hit or field, but he's full of energy.

The only way to stop Francouer. I am determined to spell his name differently every time.

Lucky him/her. That's obviously a very well-fed family.

Ye Gods.

But the way that woman looked all mad like she had some right to the bat really irritated me.

Of course, after posting that stat he pops out with runners on 1 and 3B.

Paulie up. . .

Nice play.

Francouer came in at 3.26

Izturis is so awesome.

Marcus Giles doubles (35) on a ground ball to third baseman Oscar Robles

Izturis has to at least knock it down.

Alstublieft!

I know. I just didn't want to come off too snotty in front of such a nice group of people.

I can't think of any argument against him getting in.

don sutton was commenting on how well choi hits in the 2 slot, and how poorly everywhere else. he claimed that the reason they don't keep him in the 2 slot is that the dodgers (tracy) are (is) concerned about clogging up the basepaths.

as opposed to keeping people off of the basepaths.

Another bad call puts Choi deeper in Tracy's doghouse.

Sutton also talked about how Choi was hot earlier then cooled off. More like hot earlier, then unfairly benched.

gameday: "Hee-Seop Choi grounds out sharply, first baseman Adam LaRoche to second baseman Marcus Giles to pitcher John Smoltz. "

It really wasn't even close.

Ismael Valdez now into relieve.

It's 3-3 in terms of Ex-Dodgers.

Lowe should have been pinch hit for in the top of the 7th.

Lowe is at 104 pitches and the Braves top of the order is coming up.

Bad decision by Jim Tracy. We'll see if it works.

But the Padres:
The Spark Plug (Roberts)

They both also feature:
The relievers who kept Eric Gagne from getting hurt
(Quantrill and Mota)

i hate the yankees.

He also can't hit.

(oh yeah, you try spelling it)

What did it cost us?

Only the game.

Farnsworth? Oh, happy day...

http://6-4-2.blogspot.com/2004/08/kyle-farnsworth-i-love-you-dodgers-8.html

If he would have set up in the right spot, Werth's target would have been in a place where the out could have been recorded.

So what? I'm talking about basic catching. High school players know how to block the damn plate.

But yeah, Navarro's 21, so he shouldn't be expected to know how to field his position like he's in the Major Leagues.

I'm still not too excited about Navarro's future.

The NL West is 2-0 tonight!

If it makes anyone feel better, the probability of blowing both opportunities was only .135

Who's pitching the ninth?

McCann, PH, and Furcal. Shouldn't be too difficult, at least we have a 2 run lead now

I can almost accept cute nicknames if they are used sparingly. (See the Rex Hudler collolary)

We'll let the people decide!

The NL West is 3-0 today!

OK, if we manage to string together a three game win streak against Pedro, Smoltz, and Hudson, I'm going firmly back to denial until at least September, no matter what the Padres do.

Cards up on D-Backs 5-2 in the bottom of the 7th.

You're such a buzzkill, man.

Now 6-2 St. Louis.

NL WEST RULES!!

8-2 Cards.

Actually I do want all the other teams in the division to lose, but at the SABR convention, there were people talking about how the NL West should be stripped of its playoff berth if the champ isn't over .500.

These people all were Mets and Phillies fans.

I took umbrage.

The umbrage doesn't react well with the phenobarbitol.

Any chance that Choi gets a start tomorrow against Hudson? Or is it back to Robles/Izturis at the top, Valentin/Phillips middle, and Pitcher??

Choi, AP, Ledee, Saenz need to play a WHOLE lot more.

Even get Jose Cruz some at bats.

Jose Cruz is 3 for 30! But he hit a HR!

Izturis is 2 for 3
Kent is 5 for 16
Ledee is 3 for 13
Robles is 0 for 4
Valentin is 4 for 17

I think Jose Cruz will be hiding tomorrow so Tracy won't try to put him in against Hudson.

Still haven't won 4 in a row in a while, but that's 4 of 5, I bet its been a while since that's happened.

Last 3 wins have been of the come-from-behind variety.

It was a cumulative thing.

tracy got kicked out on the wrong play.

Meanwhile, the A's can't hit the broad side of a barn. The Curse is likely to continue.

suns still winning 6-4 heading to the top of the 9th.

But as I typed this, the A's didn't score on a Payton fly ball that should have been deep enough. So I'll interpret that to mean you're still an A's fan.

Come to think of it, why don't you just become a Padres fan?

Seriously, any chance Tracy learns a thing or two from today? ie, forgetting the olneys except in special circumstances, forgetting that evil RISP stat, playing Choi more often, etc.

Though 120 pitches, even for Lowe, is quite a bit.

That may be too late. We need to get him before he sets the lineup.

"The Dodgers are 5-55 when trailing after the eighth inning."

That's actually a decent record in that situation. I can't imagine many other teams have that many more come from behind wins that late.

However, three teams came from behind in the ninth to win tonight: Boston, Tampa Bay, and the Dodgers. The first two needed extra innings.

Yes, but is your blue tick hound named `Beethoven'?

In other words, are they the exception or the rule?

Discuss.

The White Sox closer is Dustin Hermanson!

Frankie Rodriguez coughed up a lead in Anaheim so we could have FOUR teams winning after trailing after eight tonight.

And the Jays closer is Miguel Batista.

Which closer has the best save percentage this year? Is it Chad Cordero?

Florida is still using Todd Jones, right?

In the NL, Billy Wagner is at 93.1% (27-29).

Same goes for every other role/position in baseball. You can win with a weakness at any position, so long as you make up for it elsewhere. This stuff about it being necessary to have a good closer, or a good shortstop, or a good catcher, is all a bunch of hooey. You can win without any of those if you're strong in other areas.

You can even win without a good manager. (Yes, '01 DBacks, I'm looking at you...)

The moral of the story (as usual): just because you CAN steal a base, doesn't mean that you SHOULD steal a base

Somebody will have to win.

One thing about the A's, you can tell they put their best players on the field, because their bench tonight (without Swisher) was Adam Melhuse, Marco Scutaro, Keith Ginter, and Matt "the Next Jason Grabowski" Watson.

I think my official turn to the A's happened in 2003, though it had been slowly building since about 1997. However, I was still a born and raised Dodger fan, so I wasn't able to completely shake them from the system. So when Depo took over, I gave them another chance, and have been about 50-50 for both teams since he was hired. This year has slowly pushed me back to the A's. And the comments in the Times about Tracy keep his job were just disturbing. I'm pretty much at the point where I'm just not caring about the Dodgers until Tracy is gone, or he comes to his senses.

The whole idea of giving LA another try was that Depo was going to make sure stupid shit like Choi and Perez sitting wasn't going to happen. I noticed myself simply not caring about games that Choi wasn't playing in, because it was hard to cheer for a team that wasn't even trying to play its best players.

Long story short, welcome to the world of Dodger Fans Turned A's Fans Who Would Like To Cheer For LA If Only They Weren't Run So F'n Poorly.

Fortunately, strategy blunders were averted when Jimbo got the boot, so I guess the 1st blown call was a positive in some weird respect.

And in spite of everything our boys rally in the 9th... turned out to be a good night after all.

after last night and actually the past 5 days, I'm ready to buy my playoff tickets when they go on sale...

Who was managing when Tracy got the boot?

Gammons most recent article gives a lot of information on who was/was not put on waivers, who made it through, who was claimed and subsequently pulled back.

Relevant Dodgers:

On waivers, claimed, pulled back:
Brazoban
Saenz

On waivers, cleared:
Duaner
Odalis
Lowe

Not put on waivers:
Weaver

anyway, just checking in from my friend's apartment in kansas city, mo! to whomever (i believe it was jim hitchcock) told me to take the million dollar highway through the ouray valley in colorado, THANK YOU. it was one of the most stunningly gorgeous places i've ever seen, right up there with yosemite. kansas sucked though, and it was interminable. including a lunch break, it took me 15 hours to get to KC from eastern CO yesterday.

and what's this? the dodgers are back to five games out? and oscar robles has a highlight reel play on the mlb site? and it seems choi has been playing recently? what's up with that? and steve is an A's fan? hehehe

2 more games is all I ask so I can be a real fan again.

I drove the other way (from KC to Colorado) one time. Not much there. Storm clouds were ahead of me the whole time...I was hoping for anything, a thunderstorm, tornado, anything...to break up the monotony. Never caught it. Didn't help that my 8-Trk had broken in Florida, and would only play track one. Nothing on the radio but two stations broadcasting...seriously...cow reports.

Enjoy the trip.

But, I've gone back into denial on the chance that Choi and Perez will start getting regular playing time after their good performances in the last 2 games, though that may be sillier than being in denial about the Dodgers winning the West.

Which would put us at 3 games out going into Sept, and beginning divisional play. (Except what's with the random Pittsburgh series at the end of September?)

Until someone takes charge of the division, hope (and thus denial) still springs eternal.

I won't delude myself that we are going to the World Series. A game a week to win the west will be a huge task for us.

But once we make the playoffs (the rabid fan in me speaking) anything is possible. Lately we have played the Phillies, Mets, Braves even, we even beat the Cardinals a game. If we can be good enough to take 2 of 3 in each series in September against our division foes, who knows what can happen in short playoff series.

Remember, the playoffs is where Penny and Lowe have shined...two hot pitchers...

I can dream, can't I?

The Choi/Perez matter is another issue. Though depending on the line-up today, I'll probably gracefully fall back into quiet acceptance.

Resist what?

Resist thinking the Dodgers are great? They're not.

Resist thinking the Dodgers can't win the division? They can.

I'm going to work at you all to convince you, because you all are overthinking.

If the Dodgers were a great team in a great division, you wouldn't be going through all these absolutes about whether they have a chance or not, or whether they were any good or not.

You'd just know there was some chance they would win.

This is no different. Don't wait for signs that they're going to become great or that Tracy is going to radically change his style. Just watch to see if this flawed team can win a flawed division.

Jon,

I enjoy the site and I do think that you regularly influence the discussion here. However, sometimes terms become so widely entrenched in people's minds that influence becomes difficult. As you see people using the terms "denial" and "acceptance" both before and after your post (626), you can see that the terms are still not being defined your way (mediocre team in mediocre division) but are being defined the popular way (are the Dodgers out of it or not).

I'm with you...keep trying! :)

But Choi and Perez are still my foolish hope and maybe just maybe they have a better chance of actually playing now than they did a week ago, though after second thought, I've stopped holding my breath.

I have been a Dodger fan since 1959. There have been more bad years than good years, but I have always remained true blue.

Doesn't mean I don't criticize, question, argue, but I never lose faith.

Do I see things for what they are? Yes I do.

But if you are losing faith or questioning your conviction as a Dodger fan, that is up to you. I'll never lose that, even when we are eliminated (it'll never happen).

So don't worry about me. Just because "influence becomes difficult" doesn't mean it won't succeed.

Howard, for example, seems to get it. He sees the flaws for what they are, both with the Dodgers and with the division. So he just roots for better things to come while he can, if I'm not mistaken.

Choi, on the other had, has been touted as a top prospect for a long time. Based on his minor league and major league appearances, 2005 is a bit of a disappointment, though not bad enough to warrant benching. I would hang my hope more on him turning out to be something for the Dodgers in the long run.

Your point about the frustration is more on target. In other words, unlike Izturis and Robles, Perez's talent is not dependent on getting a mess of singles.

Does Choi have more potential than Perez in terms of OPS? Certainly.

I just get caught up in the moment (which isn't until the morning after, because of being busy) and bask in a victory's glory or sulk in a humbling defeat.

Howard, my loyalty is unwavering, though I've been a Dodger fan for much shorter than you have.

639 - With Perez, it's more of a "see how long he can go" idea, while Choi's talents are more firmly cemented in my head. Perez is appears to be better than the alternatives, and deserves at least the chance to show his true colors.

the frustration with Tracy, at least for me, is his decisions to rest certain players just as it appears they are hitting their stride and getting into a groove

he rests Choi immediately after his 7 homer weekend and Choi never regains that stroke due to the subsequent inactivity...

AP has hit consistently all season...will he continue to hit at that pace? probably not, but who knows?

even Repko plays every day, he starts getting a couple hits a day during a stretch, and just as it appears he is starting to get it offensively, Tracy benches him...

as far as Choi being a top prospect, how many more teams need to take a flier on him as this "top prospect" before that tag changes to "stiff"

I've never seen AP do an armflap. Being in enemy territory without cable sucks =(.

Choi has been traded for:

a) a current triple-crown candidate
b) at worst, the third-best Dodger catcher of the past 30-50 years.

How this counts against Choi continues to escape me.

I believe Colburn took the reins...

My definition of ACCEPTANCE has solely to do with the fact that the Dodgers are a mediocre team and not as good relative to last year. Do I think they can win the division? Absolutely. Do I support DePo's long-term strategy and realize that the Dodger's woes are 80% injury related and 20% poor field management? Yes I do. Do I think a healthy Dodger team this year is better than last year's on paper? You bet!

I use ACCEPTANCE as a state-of-mind where I can manage my emotions while the Dodgers continue to be mediocre. I also believe all the playing time the replacements are getting will pay off huge next year; I actually think 2006 will be even better than originally thought because 2005 has been so bad.